Page 73 of Seduced in Ink

Dear God, Aaron was with a bunch of people who never had to fend for themselves and clearly lashed out when they were pissed.

This was going to be an interesting night.

“The generator should be up and running soon. Please, come with me.”

The storm raged on, the wind howling. Aaron looked down at his phone and cursed when he noticed that there was no signal.

“No signal, no calling out.”

“This is the beginning of a horror film,” Madison mumbled.

“There’s no need to panic,” her mother said, sounding as if she were already panicking.

“Maeve, stop rambling,” Mark said.

This was a version of hell. An actual hell that Aaron could not escape from.

“I hope it doesn’t flood,” Madison mumbled.

“We need to throw salt over our shoulder again,” he began. “Because if it floods? The whole side of the mountain’s coming down. With the dry season and that fire? It’s ripe for a mudslide.”

He mumbled the words so only Madison could hear. There was no need to start a panic, but he had a feeling that others around him, people with clearer heads, were thinking the same.

The storm wasn’t supposed to be this bad. If he had known, he wouldn’t have come up here at all. But then again, his head had been in the clouds when it came to Madison, and he hadn’t really been paying attention.

Now, someone might get hurt because of that.

“We’ll get out of here quickly,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. He kept touching, kissing as if they were a real couple. And maybe they were, but right then, all he could worry about was making sure she was safe.

“Excuse me, Mr. Montgomery?” Ralph asked as he came forward.

“Yes? How can I help?” Aaron asked, wondering why Ralph was singling him out.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked, gesturing to a corner with fewer people.

Aaron nodded, and Madison walked with him. He didn’t mind. He didn’t want to leave her alone. Not with the storm, and not with Guy perhaps lurking about.

“Sorry for taking you away from your family.”

“My family’s right here,” he said without thinking, gesturing towards Madison.

She gave him a weird look, one that even he could see despite the dimness of the room, but he forced himself to turn to Ralph and not dwell on the words he had just uttered.

“We could really use your help with the generator.”

Aaron frowned. “And how can I help with that?”

“You do work on your furnace, don’t you? And you have a generator for that. My maintenance man is out sick. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing. I could use a second pair of hands, and you might have noticed, but not everybody here has been out of the office in a while.” He whispered the last part so softly that Aaron knew that he didn’t want to offend his clientele.

Aaron didn’t mind helping. Not at all. He only hoped he could.

“Of course. Let me make sure Madison’s safe with her parents, and I’ll follow you out.”

Relief spread over Ralph’s face as lightning flashed again, lighting the room.

A couple of people screamed when the thunder followed, and Aaron shook his head. “We’re going to need light in here quick.”

“Tell me about it.”